engleski

Consumer protection - new values for Croatian citizens

The aim of this paper is to give an overview of consumer protection as practised in Croatia and to discuss impacts of EU accession in this area. The concept of consumer protection aims to ensure the realization of basic consumer rights in order to avoid consumers being placed in a subordinated position vis a vis product and service suppliers. On the basis of the existing legislation, it could be said with certainty that consumers are well protected in Croatia. However, in spite of the large number of existing laws in this field, their implementation has been quite inadequate. One of the most serious problems facing consumers in Croatia is the existence of public service monopolists. Consumer associations have an important role in monitoring the market, without the possibility of sanctioning the offenders but with the possibility of publishing information and warnings through the media.Owing to preparations for EU accession, the approximation of Croatian legislation to the acquis communautaire and the acceptance of good European practices in implementation of consumer protection, the protection of consumers has been gradually improving.

consumer protection, consumer rights, EU accession, civil society, legislative framework

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